eldest son of Ming dynasty

Ouchi Shoichi and Hosokawa Kaede never had the chance to see Emperor Masanori again.

In fact, they did a lot of things. For example, if they couldn't see the emperor, they would find a way to meet with the cabinet or the emperor's close ministers.

But their search made these ministers uncomfortable, and it was difficult for them to say many things in front of the emperor.

Because some officials will gossip, for example, did the Japanese envoy give you any bribes?

The word bribery is a sensitive word nowadays.

To some extent, this incident started with bribery.

July and August are the last opportunities to go to Japan every year. After this time, you have to wait until next year.

This is because Zhu Houzhao is unwilling to listen to his ministers and return to the capital to discuss it again. When he goes back, he will still discuss it. The next year will last until the next year. Maybe the quarrel will be shelved.

Therefore, he wanted to settle the matter first, and then obey the instructions to return to Beijing.

Xing Guan, whom Jiang Yong recommended, had known Gu Zuo earlier. His official career had not been as good as Jiang Yong's over the years, but this time he suddenly came into the emperor's sight.

Zhu Houzhao summoned him in the evening when no one was around.

And it wasn't in the main hall, but at the less formal lakefront of the palace.

Xing Guan carefully bowed his head and followed the emperor's footsteps as he walked along the lakeside.

"...A few days ago, Ping Haibo said something that I care about very much. Since you are working in Ningbo, maybe you have heard it."

Xing Guan dwarfed and said, "Your Majesty, please make it clear."

"Ping Haibo said that the Ouchi clan is rich in gold and silver and often offers high prices. Is this true?"

When Xing Guan met you for the first time, he only dared to tell the truth, "Your Majesty, this is indeed true."

"This is strange. Japan's land is small and barren, but even I dare not say that it is rich in gold and silver. How can they use it?"

"Your Majesty is rich all over the world, how can the little gold and silver of the Ouchi family compare?"

"Being rich all over the world is what people say just to join in the fun. I know the family background of Ming Dynasty, and you should know it too. In terms of life, it has been easier in the past ten years. But this is what I got on the basis of the late emperor's 18 years of rule. . What about Japan? There are constant wars in the country, and the people must be in dire straits. Any country will be destroyed if it fights for a long time. This is really strange."

Xing Guan's heart began to bubble.

He gradually realized why the emperor had designated such people to join the army yesterday...

"To put it into detail, what Your Majesty said is indeed reasonable. The Ouchi family, rich in gold and silver, came from a strange place."

"Yes. So when you go out with the army this time, I don't want you to kill the enemy or charge into battle. As long as you solve the mystery, the key is to find out what is beneficial to Ming Dynasty. Do you understand?"

"Yes! I will live up to my mission!"

Zhu Houzhao felt that he should have seen the name Xing Guan somewhere before. After all, he had not held an important position.But I guess I didn't pay much attention to it. The Zhengde Dynasty was full of talents, and it was really not easy to stand out unless they were particularly outstanding or lucky.

As for Xing Guan, he wanted to say a few more words.

"Xing Guan."

"The minister is here."

“What do you understand by war and trade?”

This is the exam.

Xing Guan's heart suddenly tightened.

The person who tests him is the emperor, and this answer can even be said to determine his life.So he didn't reply immediately, and fortunately the emperor didn't rush to ask, but waited for him for a while.

After counting interest.

Xing Guan said, "Return to your majesty. I understand your majesty's national policy. The most different thing from the previous heroes is that your majesty takes war as a supplement and trade as the main one. Emperor Qin and Han Wu opened up the land of the Han people, but they also left the treasury empty. , all industries are in decline, but His Majesty is completely different from this. Instead, he wants to use war to promote trade and make all industries prosper."

"Why do you think I have this national policy?"

"Wei Chen guessed that it must be related to sea trade. In the early years of Zhengde, after the imperial maritime ban was lifted, a large amount of sea trade silver poured into the Ming Dynasty, and the national treasury was suddenly full. Even the nobles and important ministers in the court also benefited from it. Your Majesty's This is also the wonderful thing. From then on, the Ming Dynasty was inseparable from sea trade, but overseas countries had bad ideas. In order to stabilize sea trade, war would be necessary when necessary." "Some people say that my conquest of Japan was impulsive. Lift."

"There are millions of people in Japan. Even if they can't afford silk, they still have linen and cotton robes that can be sold to them."

He answered this sentence correctly.

Jiang Yong said that he has some talents, which seems to be true.

Zhu Houzhao was in a slightly relaxed mood and joked, "They also have linen and cotton robes locally. Is it possible that most people didn't wear clothes before?"

"They mostly wore linen, less cotton and even less silk."

This was to point out his mistake, but Zhu Houzhao was thinking about the meaning behind this sentence. He blinked and asked, "Have you investigated?"

"Yes, sir... I was thinking, if your majesty has time, could you please give me a detailed report? I have been thinking about this matter several years ago."

"Okay, I'll give you a chance, you say it."

Xing Guanqiang calmed himself down and pinched himself hard with the hand hidden in his sleeve.

pain!
After the pain is over, you wake up!

As if suddenly, his expression changed and he was no longer so nervous and flustered.

"Your Majesty, I have been thinking about how to sell larger quantities of goods since I took office as the Ningbo Port Controller. Although silk and porcelain are also very good, these good things are too expensive, even in a wealthy country. At most, only [-]% of the nobles can afford it, or even less than [-]%. So what about the remaining [-]% of people? Who will do their business?
So I thought, it would be best to have a commodity that should be cheap so that most people can afford it; everyone needs it, so the demand is huge; and finally it should be easy to transport.For example, sweet potatoes and other foods are not very good, because food is easy to spoil, and apart from eating, it is also worn, so I thought of cotton.

Cotton cloth, as the name suggests, is clothing made of cotton. After the Yuan Dynasty, the Ming Dynasty had such technology.But most people still wear linen and kudzu. Although hemp and kudzu have the advantages of dry air, comfort and perspiration, they also have the fatal disadvantages of rough texture, rough texture, not soft enough, irritating the skin and making it very uncomfortable.Cotton-padded clothes happen to have none of these shortcomings. "

Xing Guan's last sentence was very distinctive, and he emphasized every word, as if he had a plan in mind.

Zhu Houzhao was slightly shocked. It was the first time he heard a Ming Dynasty man talk to him about industrial development, "...cotton products just meet the three requirements you mentioned. They are cheap, in high demand and easy to transport."

Xing Guan added, "Not only that, I have also studied cotton specifically. Cotton has been promoted throughout the country during the reign of Emperor Taizu Gao, and cotton is highly adaptable. It is grown in most of the Central Plains and northern regions, so the raw material It comes from a wide range of sources. Secondly, cotton is cold-resistant, resistant to waterlogging, and can grow in both drought and rainy conditions. In addition, cotton has a short growth cycle and matures in about 120 to 150 days."

His discovery should not be accidental.

Because by the late Ming Dynasty, the cotton textile industry had indeed become a leading industry.

It has no obvious or fatal flaws in every aspect. If it doesn’t dominate, who will?

In fact, the industrial revolution also started with the cotton textile industry, because its demand was indeed so great that everyone had to wear clothes.This huge market stimulates business owners to think of ways to increase production, and various innovations come.

Now, Xing Guan's words reminded Zhu Houzhao, so that he could use the power of the government to support and cultivate industrial development.

"It seems that Jiang Yong recommended someone, you are indeed a talent."

Xing Guan was overjoyed and said, "I dare not accept your Majesty's praise."

"Xing Guan, I leave this matter to you. You are right. No matter what, Japan has a population of one million, and it is also a market of one million. But you just said that many people in Ming Dynasty also wear linen. The market is bigger.”

Xing Guan felt relaxed now, "Of course that would be better. When it comes to business, you are not afraid of many people asking for it, but you are afraid that no one wants it. Your Majesty, rest assured, since I have accepted your Majesty's will, I will do my best to promote this matter."

Raw materials, transportation, production, sales...

Zhu Houzhao was already thinking that the huge market stimulus here might give the opportunity to improve looms in Ming Dynasty.

It’s hard to say what will happen in the future, and it’s hard to say what will happen. He can’t make a spinning jenny, and I believe few modern people can, but as a modern person, he can build the underlying logic.

It can be said that the Jenny Machine is not a beginning, but a result, the result of the great development of the industry.

From this perspective, it doesn't matter even if the Jenny Machine doesn't appear, because this kind of force will definitely force something else out.

Xing Guan later left, and he now gained the most important insight.

The emperor's conquest of Japan may be a battle of emotions, but it is also profitable.

At this time, he still didn’t know about Yinshan...